Study: More Interacting Via Blogs, Video

A new study indicates making phone calls online, visiting blogs and watching online video have made the largest gains with online users in the past year. Still, the most used applications are more traditional. Email, news services and online shops top the list of most-used platforms.

by Kristina Knight

According to the Mediamark Research fall 2006 survey, blog visits increased 163% and online phone calls increased by 197%. Online video increased just over 11% - that is a year-to-year increase of more than 123%. Still, these three big gainers are the least used applications on the Internet.

“We should not be surprised that relatively newer activities on the Internet have lower overall usage,” said Anne Marie Kelly, vice president of marketing and strategic planning (in a statement). “But it is worth noting the phenomenal growth rates in just a year’s time for these activities.”

The most utilized online activities are email (70.5% of users), newsgathering (40.2% of users) and shopping (34.2% of users).

This online “leader board” has also seen gains over the past few years. Online shopping has grown 57% for personal purchases and 51% for business purchases. Visiting a television network or show sites is also very popular, gaining 35%.